Transfer apparatus



Jan 18, 1955 F. M. 'OWEN 2,699,965 l*- TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed F eb. 9, 1951 s Sheets-Sheet 1 L I I A Fronk Owen" v INVENTOR. 19 v I /7 J4 23 /7 BY wf f MM,

F. M. OWEN TRANSFER APPARATUS Jan. 18, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 9, 1951 Frank M. Owe/7 INVENTOR.

ATTO/PNfYJ Jan. 18, 1955 F. M. OWEN 2,699,965

TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed Feb. 9, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Frank M. Owe/7 INVENTOR.

BY 6 M United States Patent TRANSFER APPARATUS Frank M. Owen, Prescott, Ark.

Application February 9, 1951, Serial No. 210,541

Claims. (Cl. 294-82) This invention relates to a transfer apparatus. In one of its aspects, it relates to a conduit transfer apparatus particularly adapted to transfer a conduit from one point to another. In another of its aspects, it relates to a conduit receiving apparatus and to a novel latching means for maintaining said conduit in said receiving apparatus.

In the drilling of oil wells, it is ordinary practice to employ a traveling block of the usual construction including a plurality of rotatable sheaves for receiving a cable whereby the traveling block may be raised or lowered. The traveling block has a large hook which depends so as to receive a bail carried by a device termed an elevator. The elevator can be locked on a well pipe such as a drill string casing or the like and is adapted to engage the underside of a collar or tool joint carried at the upper end of the pipe. The traveling block and the elevator are employed to remove or introduce a drill string or other well pipe into a drill hole in oil field operations. Inasmuch as the pulling or running in of a drill string in a well represents lost time in the actual drilling of a well, it is highly desirable that the elevator be of such type that the drill string can be quickly and readily engaged or released. However, despite the desirability of the ease of engagement of the drill string by the elevator, it is necessary that such engagement be positive and that the likelihood of accidental disengagement be reduced to an absolute minimum. Moreover, such equipment should be safe to use without endanger ing the life or limb of workmen employing it.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a transfer apparatus which can be safely and easily operated with a minimum risk of bodily harm to workmen employing the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a conduit transfer apparatus including a conduit receiving means and a cable receiving means having a cable guide associated therewith, all of which is so constructed and arranged that the conduit receiving means is maintained in a position to readily receive a conduit therein with a minimum of elfort.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a conduit transfer apparatus having a conduit receiving means and a novel latching means associated therewith, said latching means being so constructed and arranged that it can be easily placed in a position to maintain a conduit'in said receiving means and yet readily removable from such position when desired.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a latching apparatusto secure a conduit in latched position with little likelihood of it becoming accidentally unlatched and yet to be selectively releasable with a minimum of effort to permit removal of the conduit.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a transfer apparatus including a rotatable sheave and a separate cable guide so constructed and arranged that a cable is guided onto the sheave in such a manner that positive contact is maintained therebetween at all times and the guide shields the cable and sheave to facilitate safe operation of the apparatus.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the written specification taken in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 represents a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

2,699,965 Patented Jan. 18, 1955 Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 5 to 9, inclusive, represent the latching apparatus 0; thisdinvention and depict the mode of operation there- 0 an Figs. 10, 11 and 12 represent another embodiment of the latching apparatus of this invention and a side elevation of the apparatus of this invention showing the particular latching apparatus installed therein.

In the drawings, like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, it will be seen that the embodiment of the invention which has been illustrated comprises a housing 10 including outer support plates 11 and inner support plates 12 which are joined together along a portion of their outer edges by a cylindrical member or casing 13. Bearing shafts 14 extend between plates 11 and 12 and each shaft can have its outer end formed into a head, as shown, which fits into a corresponding recess in plate 11. Screws 15 hold the shafts against rotation. The inner end of bearing shaft 14 can be threaded to be received in inner plate 12 as shown. Journaled upon the bearing surface of bearing shaft 14 is a cable receiving means, such as sheaves 16. With this manner of construction, each bearing shaft 14 can be inserted through a sheave 16 and then screwed snugly into place at its inner end into inner plate 12, after which screws 15 can be inserted to prevent further rotation of the bearing shaft 14 during operation of the sheave.

A cable 17 passes around sheave 16 and out of housing 10 through cable housing members 18. Housing members 18 can comprise an elongated hollow member such as a pipe rigidly attached to housing 19 and aligned with the sheave 16 in such a manner that the cable passing through the housing member is in alignment with the groove around the sheave 16. Associated with cable housing 18 is a cable guide 19. Such guide can corn= prise, for example, a bushing nut having a passageway therethrough slightly larger than the cable. When so constructed, cable 17 is positively guided into place onto the sheave 16 and with such guidance, it is not necessary that the lips 20 forming the cable groove around sheave 16 be of a great length as has heretofore been customary in order to prevent the cable from jumping from the sheave inasmuch as cable guide 19 will positively guide the cable onto the sheave. Cable guides 19 are preferably constructed from a hard material such as case hardened steel or even tungsten carbide to reduce wear. Wear upon cable 17 will be negligible because of its length, the wear being distributed over the entire length thereof. These guide parts are readily replaceable and contribute to the life of the sheaves.

The cable housings 18 have another function in that they provide a ready handheld for guiding the apparatus of this invention into any desired position and shield the cable and sheaves substantially eliminating the likelihood of a Workman having his hands or clothing accidentally caught therebetween.

Housing 10 and attending apparatus can be raised and lowered to any'desired position by means of a cable or cat line 21 attached to bail 22 as shown in the drawings.

Situated within the frontal or side door opening of housing 19 is a conduit receiving means comprising a plate 24 having a recess 25 therein adapted to receive a conduit 26. Plate 24 can be attached to inner plates 12 at its outer ends as by welding and may be formed with a depending semi-circular bearing plate 27. An off-set 28 in plate 24 provides a shoulder to receive the collar of the pipe 26 as shown in the drawings in dotted lines.

In accordance with this invention, a latching means, designated generally as 29 and shown separately as to several 9f its operational positions in Figs. 5 to 9 as well is in dfl inbination with other equipment in Figs. 1 to 4, is provided to maintain conduit 26 within its proper position in recess 25. As shown in the drawings, the latching means comprises a latching member or bar 30 and another latching member or bar 31. Latching members 30 and 31 are mounted upon rotatable shafts 32 and 33, re-

spectively, which can be held in position with respect to housing 10 by means of bearing members 34.

Means are also provided for operatively connecting the rotatable shafts 32 and 33 in such a manner that the rotation of one shaft will cause the other shaft to rotate, but in a reverse rotational sense. As shown in the drawings, such means comprises a linkage including levers or crank arms 35 and 36 attached to rotatable shafts 32 and 33, respectively. The free ends of levers 35 and 36 are joined by a link 37. Levers or cranks 35 and 36 and link 37 are so constructed and arranged and operatively connected together that upon pivoting latching member 30 from its position shown in Fig. 8, for example, to its position shown in Fig. 6, latching member 31 will likewise be pivoted upwardly. In this manner, pivoting of one latching member will automatically cause a like pivoting of the other latching member.

As one feature of this invention, there is provided a fastening means to prevent accidental pivoting of latching members 30 and 31. Such fastening means may comprise a pin 38 which can be attached to latching rnember 31 and adapted to enter a hole or opening 39 situated in latching member 30. Pin 38 should be sufficiently long that when latching members 30 and 31 are in a position as shown in Fig. 8 and hence are extended across the conduit receiving recess 25, any accidental displacement upwardly of latching member 31, such as by lowering of the transfer apparatus with respect to conduit 26, will cause the pin 38 to bind in hole 39 and thereby prevent the accidental unlatching of the latching mechanism. However, there is provided a means, including a handle 42 attached to member 30, for manually or otherwise unlatching the latching means by pivoting member 30 upwardly a sufficient distance to clear pin 38 before member 31 begins to pivot upwardly as driven by levers 35, 36 and link 37. This upward pivoting of member 30 prior to any pivoting of member 31 is accomplished by providing a lost motion means in the linkage connecting rotatable shafts 32 and 33. Such lost motion means can comprise a slot 40 in one end of link 37 in which bearing pin 41 can slide.

According to one feature of this invention, additional means can be provided to prevent accidental disengagement of latching members 30 and 31. In Figs. 10, 11 and 12, there is shown a latching means similar to that above described except that means are provided to prevent accidental pivoting of member 30 such as by an object striking handle 42. Such means can comprise a member or bar 43 attached to member 31 in such a manner that it will extend at least beneath handle 42 when the latching means is in a closed position, as shown in Fig. 12. Thus, any blow which would normally strike handle 42 in such a manner as to pivot member 30 will be deflected or prevented from doing so by bar 43. Although such blow would tend to rotate member 31, unlatching of the latching means is prevented by pin 38 binding in hole 39 as described above. However, when bar 43 is in position, handle 42 can yet be easily grasped to open the latching means.

In discussing the operation of the illustrated embodiment of this invention, assume that the conduit transfer apparatus is empty and that handle 42 has been pulled upwardly to place the latching mechanism in a position illustrated in Figs. and 6. The operator can then safely grasp cable housing 18 and guide the apparatus around a conduit 26 into a position such as that shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Handle 42 can then be rotated through the posi tion shown in Fig. 7 into a position shown in Fig. 8. In so doing, member 30 will cause rotatable shaft 32 to rotate and thereby pivot crank 35 through the position shown in Fig. 7 to that shown in Fig. 8. Such pivoting of crank 35 causes link 37 to pivot crank 36 through the position shown in Fig. 7 to that shown in Fig, 8. In so pivoting, shaft 33 will also be rotated and thereby cause member 31 to pass through the position shown in Fig. 7 to that shown in Fig. 8. Thus, when the latching means is in the position shown in Fig. 8, the pipe or conduit 26 will be safely latched in position in the conduit receiving recess of the apparatus and any accidental upward displacement of member 31 or bar 43 will cause pin 38 to bind in hole 39 of latching member 30, thereby preventing the accidental unlatching of the latching means.

After the conduit has been transported to its desired posltlon, the latching means can be disengaged from its position shown in Fig. 8 by pivoting handle 42 from the position shown in Fig. 8 tothat shown in Fig. 6. In so doing, the handle will pass through the position shown in Figs. 9 and 7. When the handle and the latching member 31) has passed to the position shown in Fig. 9, crank 35 will draw link 37 to such a position that the pin 41 is at the outer end of slot 40. At this point in the movement, the hole in member 30 has cleared pin 38 and any upward pivoting of member 31 will accordingly not bind pin 38 in hole 39. Hence, the handle 42 and member 30 can be rotated freely to the position shown in Fig. 6 and in so doing, the system of cranks 35 and 36 and link 37 will cause member 31 to be raised into a disengaged position as shown in Fig. 6. When in such position, the transfer apparatus can be readily disengaged from the conduit by merely grasping cable housing 18 and pushing it away therefrom.

As will be apparent from the foregoing description and from a consideration of the drawings, the respective levers of crank 35 and 36 and of link 37 should be such that when handle 42 and member 30 are pivoted from their positions shown in Fig. 6 to those shown in Fig. 7, member 31 will be pivoted sufficiently to permit it to fall below member 30 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Also, the length of slot 40 should be sufficient that when handle 42 is raised to the position shown in Fig. 9, the hole in member 30 will be free of pin 38 so that continued pivoting of member 30 and 31 can be accomplished. Also, it is desirable that slot 40 be of sufficient length that the end of member 31 adjacent the end of member 30 can rise freely through the position shown in Fig. 7 without binding against or scraping against member 30.

Although the linkage connecting the rotatable shafts 32 and 33 has been illustrated as a series of cranks and links, it is possible that other linkages or connecting means can be employed instead.

As will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the foregoing disclosure in conjunction with the attached drawings, there are many advantages to be derived in employing the apparatus of this invention. One of such advantages is that the apparatus can be employed safely inasmuch as all moving parts which are apt to cause bodily harm are enclosed. Also, such enclosure in the form of cable housing 18 provides a ready handhold for moving the apparatus of this invention into any desired position. Thus, an operator is not exposed to risk of injury by moving cables or sheaves when attempting to manuver the apparatus of this invention into position. Also, as pointed out above, the employment of cable housing 18 and cable guide 19 will positively guide the cable 17 onto sheave 16 in such a manner that it is not necessary that the lips 20 of sheave 16 be of any great length, thereby strengthening the sheave and rendering it less subject to wear and breakage. Another advantage to be derived in employing the apparatus of this invention is that the pipe can be positively locked in position in the pipe receiving recess by simply rotating a handle through approximately The handle may be long so that the hand grip occupies an out-of-the-way position of relative safety. Likewise. the pipe can be simply and safely released from such recess. Thus, the operator of the apparatus need employ only one hand in locking the pipe in position and can do so in a minimum of time and with a minimum of effort. After he has the pipe locked into position, it will be extremely difficult to unlatch the latching means by an accidental lowering of the transfer apparatus with respect to the conduit contained therein since, as explained above. the pin 38 will bind in hole 39 of member 30 thereby preventing pivoting of the latching means into an unlatched position. Also, any accidental blow which would normally strike handle 42 and cause the latching means to become unlatched will be prevented from doing 'so by bar 43 which either deflects such blow or causes it to merely bind pin 38 in hole 39.

Another advantage to be derived when employing the apparatus of this invention flows from its compactness. In the ordinary traveling block and elevator commonly employed in the drilling of wells, the traveling block is situated above the elevator and is connected thereto by a large hook adapted to receive a bail carried by the elevator. Such equipment is necessarily of great length and accordingly, the derricks carrying such equipment must be built high enough to accommodate this length when pulling drill string from the hole. As will be readily observable from the drawings, the transfer apparatus of this invention is unusually compact and need not be of any great length; thus, several feet can be eliminated from the length of the derrick and still handle the samc length of drill string as would be handled by the ordinary equipment described above.

Still another advantage to be derived in using the apparatus of this invention is that it is always maintained in a proper position for receiving the conduit to be transferred. In the conventional apparatus referred to above. it is common for the elevator, when empty, to hang at an angle from the traveling block due to the turning effect of the weight of the latching means employed therewith. Then, when it becomes desirable to engage a length of conduit by such an elevator, it is necessary for the operator to manually orient the elevator in order to properly engage the conduit. When employing the instant apparatus, it is only necessary that the operator pull the apparatus about the conduit for the apparatus will always be maintained in a proper position to receive the conduit and will not need to be rotated or be lifted into proper position because the center of gravity of the apparatus is far removed from the members 19 so that the weight of the apparatus will hold it in operating position.

It is believed that these and many other advantages of a transfer apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention will be readily understood, and although a preferred embodiment of the device is as illustrated and described, it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 199,082, filed December 4, 1950, and now abandoned.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

l. A combination traveling block and elevator which comprises, in combination, a conduit receiving means having a side door recess adapted to receive a conduit therein, sheave means operatively connected to said conduit receiving means, and a latching means including a member extendable at least partly across said recess, an element movably mounted on the conduit receiving means. means for preventing removal of said member from its extended position prior to movement of said element, said last named means including releasably engageable parts carried by the member and the element, said parts becoming engaged upon movement of said element relative to said member and becoming disengaged responsive to another movement of said element relative to said member, and force transmitting means connecting said member and element for moving said member from extended position responsive to movement of said element to disengage said parts.

21;;A conduit transfer apparatus which comprises, in combination, a conduit receiving means adapted to receive a conduit in a recess therein, rotatable cable receiving means operatively associated with said conduit receiving means to raise or lower the same, cable guiding means spaced from the rotatable means and adapted to direct said cable onto said cable receiving means, a latching means comprising a member extendable at least partly across said recess and adapted to maintain a conduit therein, and a pivotable means extending from a side opposite said member, said pivotable means and said member having registering parts preventing removal of said member from extended position prior to pivoting of said pivotable means, and means providing a force transmitting connection between said member and pivotable means for moving said member from extended position responsive to pivoting of said pivotable means.

3. A conduit transfer apparatus which comprises, in combination, a conduit receiving means having a recess adapted to receive a conduit therein, and a latching means extendable at least partially across said recess to maintain said conduit therein, said latching means comprising a first and a second latching bar each pivotably mounted for movement across said recess, first and second releasably engageable parts carried respectively by said first and second bars and becoming engaged upon pivoting of said first bar toward said second bar and becoming disengaged upon pivoting of said first bar away from said second bar, and force transmitting means connecting said first and second bars for pivoting said second bar from across said recess upon pivoting said first bar to disengage said parts.

4. A conduit transfer apparatus which comprises, in combination, a conduit receiving means having a recess therein adapted to receive a conduit therein, a pair of latching bars pivotably mounted for movement across said recess from opposite sides thereof and adapted to maintain a conduit in the recess, means for pivoting one of said latching bars in response to pivoting of the other and lost motion means delaying the pivoting of said one bar until said other bar has pivoted through a finite arc.

5. A latching apparatus adapted to extend across a recess in an article receiving means which comprises, in combination, a first member pivotably mounted for movement at least partly across said recess, a second member pivotably mounted for movement at least partly across said recess from a side opposite said first member, a fastening means associated with said pivotable members adapted to prevent pivoting of one of said members until the other member has been pivoted through an arc of a selected magnitude, and means operatively connecting said pivotable members adapted to pivot one of said lranembers in response to pivoting of the other of said memers.

6. A latching apparatus adapted to extend across a recess in an article receiving means which comprises, in combination, a first member pivotably mounted for movement at least partly across said recess, a second member pivotably mounted for movement at least partly across said recess from a side opposite said first member, a pin attached to one of said pivotable members and adapted to extend into an opening therefor in the other said member, said opening having a surface which engages the pin and binds the members against pivoting when one of said members is pivoted without having first pivoted the other member through an arc sufficient to prevent engagement of the pin and surface, and means operatively connecting the pivotable members adapted to pivot one of said members in response to pivoting of the other of said members.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein a handle is attached to one of said members and a shield for said handle is attached to the other of said members and has a portion positioned under the handle when the pin and opening are engaged to protect the handle from an accidental blow tending to pivot the handle and member from across the recess.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the means connecting the pivotable members is a linkage means and pivoting movement of said member having said opening therein will also pivot the other said member.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the means connecting the pivotable members is a linkage means and pivoting movement of said member having said opening therein will also pivot the other said member and a lost motion means delays pivoting movement of said other member until the member having an opening therein is pivoted sufiiciently to disengage the pin and opening.

. 10. A combination traveling block and elevator which comprises, in combination, a conduit receiving means having a side door recess adapted to receive a conduit therein, sheave means operatively connected to said conduit receiving means, and a latching means including two pivotable members extendable at least partly across said recess and adapted to maintain a conduit in the recess, and means including a lost motion connection for pivoting one of said members in response to pivoting of the other member, said other member having a part engageable with said one member to prevent pivoting of said one member until said other member has been pivoted through an arc of a selected magnitude.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,448,100 Wigle Mar. 13, 1923 1,648,650 Lynch Nov. 8, 1927 2,474,846 Johns July 5, 1949 

